About PlusTab
The currently available
version, PlusTab 2.33 (released in 2013) is a debate
tabulation software written in and for Microsoft Excel 2010.
It works in Excel 2010, 2007 or 2003 on Windows 7. It works but has glitches in Excel 2013.
It does NOT work with Excel 2016, 2019, 2021, 365.
It does NOT work on Windows 10/11 nor Windows 8.
It does NOT work on Macs.
It does not work in Excel for Mac. We recommend that
you bootcamp to Windows if you have a Mac.
PlusTab 2 is based on Gary Larson's STA-XL (Smart Tournament Administrator - eXceL Version). Gary's STA (standalone
version) program ran for over twenty years built on the SMART
database program. In 2002, Gary was notified that due to
licensing issues, he could no longer distribute the STA package for
free. Gary then ported the program to Microsoft Excel and
distributed it in the fall of 2003. Since then, STA-XL has been used to run
numerous debate tournaments.
In the summer of 2006, Jim Hanson contacted Danny
Cantrell, Rio Hondo College, about creating a new user interface for
STA-XL. Jim and Danny released Version 1.0 and 1.1 in Fall 2007. In
early 2008, Jim and Danny massively overhauled the interface, relying more
on forms that you filled out and edited, and released STA-XL Plus 1.5.
Based on the feedback of well over 100 tournaments run
with STA-XL Plus version 1.5, Danny and Jim made major refinements
to STA-XL Plus over the course of a long year and a half. Since
Version 2 departed significantly from Larson's STA-XL base and relied almost
exclusively on forms users filled out and edited, Danny and Jim decided a new
name was in order - hence, PlusTab 2 was
born in September 2009.
During the the fall of 2009,
Jim made a slew of minor improvements with Danny handling bug fixes and some
nice bigger features to quickly post Versions 2.015, 2.070, 2070a, 2.100 and
then 2.150. By the time Jim and Danny hit Version 2.2 in January 2010, the
program included 160 revisions based on user feedback as well as Jim and
Danny's use of the program.
With Version 2.3, released in March 2011, Jim worked with Eliot Woodrich, a former debater and proficient Excel VBA
programmer. The improvements to 2.3 include emailed ballots and web posting of
results and postings, advanced user ability to manipulate the spreadsheets
directly again, and a slew of ease of use and feature improvements as well as a
few minor bug fixes.
Plustab 3.0 was finalized in the first half of 2023. Jim Hanson, Climb the Mountain Speech and Debate Foundation and Seattle
University tired of using a virtual machine to run Windows 7 reached out to
Eliot Woodrich who has made dozens of improvements to the program including the
program runs on Windows 10/11 and Excel 2021/365 now, 3 and 4 person teams,
interface improvements, and multiple improvements to ballots, posting, judge
information, results, and more. Over the course of 2022-23, Jim and Eliot have
tested and improved the program in real tournament use.
PlusTab 3.1 is the upcoming
version of this software. They will be making a second
set of changes during the 2023-24 year building on the 3.0 version. If you want
a beta version of the software, email Jim.
PlusTab would not have been possible without the tremendous dedication and work
put into the STA program by Gary Larson. We hope our
additions in PlusTab make the great
program that Gary developed even more accessible to more users.
Questions about the program? Contact Jim Hanson at hansonjb@gmail.com
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